


The words I can't express

by Soggychan



Category: Love Live! School Idol Festival ALL STARS (Video Game), ラブライブ! 虹ヶ咲学園スクールアイドル同好会 | Love Live! Nijigasaki Gakuen School Idol Doukoukai (Anime)
Genre: Angst, F/F, Fluff, One day I'll win, Rina-chan board concerned
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:02:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,334
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28388208
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Soggychan/pseuds/Soggychan
Summary: After days of an awkward atmosphere, Emma finally confronts Rina so they can sort things out.
Relationships: Tennouji Rina/Emma Verde
Comments: 1
Kudos: 11





	The words I can't express

**Author's Note:**

  * For [TheRev28](https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheRev28/gifts).



> Second time losing a bet, didn't even make it as high. But hey, technically "I" won
> 
> Either way I thought this was pretty fun to write despite having no idea how I was going to write Emma.

“Hmhmhm~” Emma swung her arms as she walked, humming happily to the tune of a nonexistent song. After a long day of classes and helping out the library committee after school, she was looking forward to being back in her dorm, lounging around. “Oh?” Her humming had tuned it out, but as she passed by a window, she noticed the rain slamming against it. Not a light rain either, a pretty bad storm if she had ever seen one. To think Karin always told her it was unnecessary to bring an umbrella to school every day.

She triumphantly dug her umbrella from her bag and swung it around as she made her way to the front of the school. It wasn’t like she could magically make rain disappear after all, so being prepared was only natural, right? Emma puffed her chest out in pride as she swapped out her shoes. But before she could get too full of herself for her forecasting abilities, a glimpse of pink caught her eye.

“Rina-chan?”

Sure enough, it was Rina, standing just inside the doors, staring out at the rain. She turned as Emma called out. “Emma-san…”

“Why are you just standing here? Waiting for Ai-chan?”

Rina shook her head and looked back out at the rain, not that she could see very far. “Ai-san wasn’t feeling well today so she didn’t come to school.”

“Ah, I’ll have to send her a get-well message when I get back. I hope she’s doing well.”

“Mm. Me too.” Rina held her board to her face, squiggles of tears falling from the sharp lines. “Rina-chan board… worried…”

“Ehehe.” Emma reached out to pat her head, but quickly withdrew her hand. “I-It’s okay, Rina-chan. I’m sure she’ll be up and about in no time. It is Ai-chan we’re talking about after all.”

Rina nodded, flipping the pages of her board without checking to a smile. “Thank you, Emma-san.”

“No worries. Ah, if it’s not waiting for Ai-chan, could it be that you don’t have an umbrella?” Rina nodded again. “I see, I thought so. Well, luckily my umbrella is big enough for two!” She extended her umbrella and gave it a couple spins for good measure.

“You don’t have to go through the trouble. I can just wait. Besides, the walk…”

Emma thought for a second before popping open the umbrella and turning back to Rina with a big smile. “Then, would you like to come to my place for a bit? Until the rain stops at least? Ah, Karin-chan is modeling though so it’ll just be the two of us.”

She could see the hesitation in Rina’s eyes and almost reiterated her offer to walk her back instead, but Rina nodded. “Mm. Sure.”

The walk to back felt like an eternity to Emma. Rina remained under the umbrella but just close enough that she wasn’t getting soaked. The small distance between them felt like a mile and Emma could do nothing but sigh, knowing it was her fault. She tried to approach Rina like nothing had happened, but of course it would end up like that. Even after asking around, the only sound advice she got was to act like nothing had happened. But that wasn’t getting her anywhere.

Maybe she should say something, broach the topic and apologize for making things awkward. But that might just make it worse for Rina. She would rather Rina forget about the whole ordeal than potentially feel even more awkward than that atmosphere. What a sad existence, she lamented. Luckily, she could see the dorms right ahead of them so hopefully things would feel a bit better when they didn’t have to be within an inch of each other. But, as if the world had to spit on her, a particularly strong gust of wind tore the umbrella from her grasp, leaving the two to soak in the cold rain.

-

-

“I’m so sorry. I should have paid more attention.” Emma apologized for the umpteenth time as Rina exited her bathroom, donning a borrowed shirt and shorts that were too large for her.

Rina shook her head as she sat down. “It’s fine.”

Gods, she had definitely only made the mood worse with her screwup. Emma wanted nothing more than to disappear as the seconds passed without either speaking again. She had to say something, anything. “I-I have our uniforms drying right now. You should be fine to wear yours home once the rain stops.

“Thank you.”

Emma sighed. These one to two words responses weren’t exactly unlike the normal Rina, but the lack of conversation felt all the more oppressive given the situation. Maybe she was worrying too much about it. It wasn’t like Rina had been avoiding her the past few days, it’s just that their conversations seemed short, to the point. Every time. But she wasn’t sure if she was to blame for that or if Rina was.

She eyed Rina still drying her hair from the corner of her eye. That was something at least. “How about I help you, Rina-chan?”

Rina glanced between the towel and Emma before nodding and offering it to her. No words. Great. Emma took the towel and scooted over behind Rina before getting to work. And she instantly felt at ease, as if that atmosphere had never existed in the first place. Even in silence, sitting there, being so close to Rina, felt good. And it felt better knowing that it wasn’t a forced situation like the umbrella and Rina had allowed her to get so close.

From behind, Rina felt even smaller. It was really tempting to just hug her, but Emma wasn’t about to reset the progress she had made getting their relationship back to normal. If this could be considered progress. Well, whatever. Even if it wasn’t the kind of progress she was hoping for, she was more than content. As she finished, she dropped the towel.

“All done~” Without even thinking about her next action, she ran her fingers through Rina’s hair, giggling at how smooth her hair was. “Ah… S-Sorry! I just did it without thinking…” She backed up but Rina didn’t move. She waited for a response that never came. Once a minute passed like that, she swallowed her fear. This wasn’t okay. She had to broach that topic and when would she get a better chance? “R-Rina-chan, you know….”

“Emma-san.” Emma immediately shut up at the sound of Rina’s voice. Her chest tightened, ready for some verdict, some judgement for her actions, not just today’s but that day’s as well. “I’m sorry.”

“Eh?”

Rina reached over to her bag and removed the Rina-chan board from it which had luckily survived being soaked through. “I… didn’t know how to respond. I still don’t.”

“Rina-chan…”

“I thought… If I found a face that could express how I felt, it would be easier. But… Wouldn’t Emma-san dislike the me that can’t show how she feels? I’m sure you wanted an enthusiastic yes. Something that anybody can give you. But the one person that can’t… is me.” Rina flipped through the Rina-chan board until she got to a big smile. “If… If I had showed you this, wouldn’t you have been disappointed? Nobody would be happy to get a fake smile, right?”

Emma allowed her gut instinct to rule this time, scooting forward and wrapping Rina in a tight hug. “That’s not true! I… I wouldn’t have confessed if my feelings could be changed by something so small. Besides…” She reached a hand over Rina’s on her board. “This smile isn’t fake, right? You and Ai-san worked hard to make sure that this board could express your genuine feelings. I wouldn’t call that fake. And just so you know,” She flipped the pages of the Rina-chan board, giggling at each different face that she had seen in the past. “I’m always happy to see these expressions. There’s more to showing how you feel than just using your face, Rina-chan.”

Rina listened intently the entire time, or least Emma hoped she did. She reached for the Rina-chan board again and flipped the pages. “But… without the Rina-chan board…”

Emma shook her head even though Rina couldn’t see her. “That’s not the point, Rina-chan. What I mean is, you can express things in your own way. And I’ll be happy no matter what. Whether you smile at me, whether you use the Rina-chan board to smile at me, whether you tell me that you’re happy, whether you nod when I ask how you’re doing, no matter what… Even if you think you can’t express it, I’ll be happy to see any of those. You don’t have to worry about being unable to express yourself around me. I’ll accept you no matter what, and I’ll be happy just to see you nod at me. I’m a simple girl when it comes to love I guess.” Emma giggled, but she was glad Rina couldn’t see the furious blush on her cheeks.

“That’s… I want to give you a proper response.”

“Then take your time. I don’t need a response right now. As long as we can be close like this, I’m happy. Even if you don’t feel the same way, I don’t want things to be weird between us. I want to laugh and smile with you still.”

Flipping through the Rina-chan board again, Rina scanned the pages until she found what she was looking for. “That’s not right, Emma-san. I… don’t want to take my time. I’m sorry. Because of me, things became awkward between us. Because I was so worried about what kind of face to show you or if I could even show that face. Because I was afraid of the words that could express how I felt and if I could properly convey them… Everything became so weird.”

“Rina-chan, I told you, that’s―”

“It’s not okay.” The tone of Rina’s voice took her aback. She wasn’t used to hearing much of anything in it, but she heard it then. The slight determination that managed to leak into her voice. “Even Ai-san told me, I should “just go for it” when I want something. Sitting here, worrying, scared… I don’t want to do it anymore. Even if I can’t express myself properly, even if I struggle with my words…” Rina reached up, placing her hand over Emma’s. Emma felt a shiver travel down her spine, hoping that she wasn’t interpreting this situation incorrectly. She removed Emma’s hand and Emma felt her heart begin sinking. But Rina turned to face her, holding her board tightly against her chest.

Rina struggled to maintain eye contact, her eyes darting all over the place. It was much more telling than a smile or frown. She clutched the board tightly, her fingers wrinkling the page. Emma wanted to say something, to assuage her worries, but she didn’t. She remained silent. She had already decided she would patiently wait for Rina, no matter how long she took. Rina fidgeted with her board and audibly swallowed before finally separating the board from her body.

She raised the board in front of her face, showing a face with a big smile and hearts for eyes. Emma almost giggled but she didn’t want to ruin the mood. “Rina-chan board…” Rina shook her head and slowly lowered the board. Emma sucked in her breath. Instead of the board, it was Rina’s smile, a genuine, small smile that made her heart flip. “I… like you too, Emma-san.”

Emma struggled to get words out, but her throat had closed up. Her heart hammered against her chest. Honestly, she had expected nothing. If anything, she had thought maybe a rejection would be the only thing she would receive. But no. Rina had accepted her feelings, returned them even. So many feelings bounced around in her head that it was hard to grab just one.

After receiving no response, a small blush bloomed on Rina’s cheeks and she covered her face with the board once again. Without needing to look, she flipped to a nervous expression, squiggly mouth and all. “S-Sorry, I…”

Emma burst out laughing, interrupting her. She laughed harder than she ever had before, but not because she found the situation entertaining in the least. It was a pure from the bottom of her heart laugh. She was never sure why people laughed when they were so happy, but she thought that, in that moment, just a little, maybe she understood them. By the time she was calming down, Rina had flipped a page on the board to show a pout.

“Rina-chan board, pout.”

“Ehehe, I’m sorry, Rina-chan. I’m just so happy I don’t know what to say. I didn’t… I didn’t think you would accept my confession, but I did it anyways. And now I just feel so happy that I did.” 

Rina tilted her head, which looked more silly than usual because of the board. “If Emma-san is happy…” She flipped the page to smile. “Then I’m glad.”

“That’s right, that’s right.” Emma leaned forward, skirting her way just past the Rina-chan board to plant a quick kiss on Rina’s cheek. “I’m happier than ever right now.”

She grabbed Rina’s hand, interlacing their fingers and Rian offered no resistance. Emma giggled again. It was kind of ironic to her, but now she felt like the one who wasn’t sure how to express herself. But that was fine. Rina was there with her and that was all that mattered.

As she was laughing, Rina pressed the board against her face before pulling it away to see a comical kissing face.

“Rina-chan?”

Rina didn’t bring the board back to her face, so Emma could see that smile still present, that smile that immediately sent her heart to hammering again and she returned it tenfold.

“Rina-chan board, chu.”

Emma burst into laughter again, and Rina brought the board back to her face, giggling along as well. Yeah, Emma thought, everything was going to be just fine.

**Author's Note:**

> Idol fanfic hell: https://discord.gg/R43Vc3X  
> aka the server I lost this bet in


End file.
